Field of the invention
This invention relates to improvements in alerting a person that they have left a child or animal in a vehicle. More particularly, the present alert system monitors temperature and temperature changes to determine that a child has been left in a vehicle and then sends an alert.
Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
Every year a number of babies, children and animals die from being left in a vehicle when the parent or owner leaves the vehicle without removing the baby, child or animal from the vehicle. A higher number of babies, children and animals are left in a car where the baby, child or animal is subject to heat or cold while the baby is left in the vehicle while the owner, parent or guardian leaves. There needs to be a system that notifies a guardian, parent, care giver or other authority that a baby, child or animal has been left in a vehicle.
A number of patents and or publications have been made to address these issues. Exemplary examples of patents and or publication that try to address this/these problem(s) are identified and discussed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,924,742 published on Aug. 2, 2005 and U.S. Published application number 2004/0164856, both to Fred Mesina discloses a Baby seat belt alarm system. The seat belt alarm system activates an alarm when a child is buckled in a car seat and when the car key is removed from the ignition. This patent/publication provides a notification immediately upon the child being left in the vehicle but the child may be in a protected garage while a parent moves groceries or bags while a baby or child sleeps.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,058,983 was published on Nov. 15, 2011 for Sally Trimmer Davisson et al., discloses a Baby seat occupant detection system. The baby seat occupant detection system of the present invention functions to reliably remind forgetful or negligent caregivers when they have an infant in a car seat inside a vehicle and have left a predetermined proximity around the vehicle. This is essentially a proximity sensor and does not determent when the infant is neglected or in danger.
U.S. Published application number 2007/0268119 was published on Nov. 22, 2007 to Daryl Cram et al., disclose a Child abandonment avoidance system for automobiles. The child safety system is described which senses when a child is left alone in an automobile and alerting others. This publication also just detects that a child remains alone in an automobile, but does not include parameters that determine if the child in abandoned or remains in the automobile while the parent works around the attended automobile.
What is needed is a baby, infant, child or animal warning system that notifies a person that a child or animal has been left in a vehicle or a period of time that can cause harm. While there is no reason to leave a child or animal unattended in a vehicle, this system sets parameters for when the owner, parent, caregiver or authorities should be notified. The proposed monitoring system in this document provides a solution.